Method and apparatus for providing an additional ground pad and electrical connection for grounding a magnetic recording head

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus are presented for electrically coupling a slider to ground. In one embodiment, a bonding pad is provided on a side of the slider body separate from the bonding pad(s) used for read/write signals. This separate bonding pad is electrically coupled within the slider body to components that are to be coupled to ground. A separate conductor provided on the suspension (e.g., a trace, a flex circuit, etc.) may be electrically coupled to the separate bonding pad via gold ball bonding. The conductor is also coupled to ground in the hard-disk drive device (e.g., via the preamplifier). The use of the separated bonding pad and trace may negate the need to use a conductive adhesive to electrically ground the slider via its attachment to the tongue of a slider.

The present application claims priority to U.S. application No.60/417,665 filed Oct. 11, 2002.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The present invention relates to magnetic hard disk drives. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatusfor grounding a magnetic recording head that may avoid the use of aconductive adhesive.

A disk drive for data recording uses magnetic recording heads forwriting and reading data on recording disks. The recording heads arebuilt on a substrate, called a wafer, which is made of electricallyconductive material, such as AlTiC, with processes similar to those forsemiconductor devices. Gold pads on the external surface of therecording head are electrically connected to the recording devicesthrough internal electrical paths built during the wafer-levelprocesses. The wafer is then sliced into rectangular pieces with anindividual recording head on each piece with the substrate attached,which is called a slider. Afterwards, the slider is mounted on asuspension. The assembly is called a head gimbal assembly, or HGA. Theslider is then bonded on the suspension with glues, including aconductive glue to form an electrical connection between the substrateand a stainless steel component of the suspension. Additional electricalconnections are made between the gold pads on the recording head andmetal trace lines on the suspension with methods including ultrasonicbonding or soldering. Finally, the HGA is assembled into a hard diskdrive device with the suspension traces connected to other electricalcomponents, typically a pre-amplifier, and the stainless steel part ofthe suspension connected to the electrical ground of the drive.

Generally, there are two types of HGAs—wired and wireless. A wired HGAis one where separate lead wires are connected between the flex circuitof the HSA and the read write head. A wireless HGA is one whereconductive traces are integrated with the flexure and provideconductivity between the flex circuit of the HSA and the read write headof the slider. In the art, there are typically two types of wirelesssuspensions. In the first type, such as trace suspension assemblies(TSAs) and circuit integrated suspension (CISs), traces are built thougha subtractive process (e.g., an etching operation) or through anadditive process (e.g., a plating or deposition process) on thestainless steel flexure, with an insulative layer between the trace andthe flexure. After the traces are set in place, the flexure can then bewelded to other parts of the suspension. In the second type, such asflex suspension assemblies (FSAs) and flex on suspension (FOS), thetraces are built on an insulation layer and then covered with anotherinsulation layer to form a flex circuit. This circuit is then attachedto the suspension with adhesive. Alternatively, an additional metallayer called a ground plane can be attached to the flex circuit beforeit is adhered to the suspension. In an FSA, the flexure is integratedwith a load beam and a mount plate along with the integrated traces forconnectivity.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a head gimbal assembly 40 often provides theslider with multiple degrees of freedom such as vertical spacing, orpitch angle and roll angle, which describe the flying height of theslider. As shown in FIG. 1, a suspension 74 holds the HGA 40 over themoving disk 76 (having edge 70) and moving in the direction indicated byarrow 80. In operation of the disk drive shown in FIG. 1, an actuator 72moves the HGA over various diameters of the disk 76 (e.g., innerdiameter (ID), middle diameter (MD) and outer diameter (OD)) over arc78.

A preamplifier is typically connected to the head to supply writecurrents to the write head and receive currents from the read head. Thepreamplifier resides in a subassembly common referred to as the ActuatorFlex Preamp Assembly (AFPA). The preamplifier is usually soldered to aflexible circuit. This flexible circuit provides the areas to which theHGA traces will be connected to complete the circuit connecting thepreamplifier to the read and write elements of the head.

The suspension provides two functions: mechanical support and electricalconnection between the head and the preamplifier. Rather than usingphysical wires to connect the head to the preamplifier, metal traces onthe suspension are quite often used.

The method of using conductive glue to electrically ground the recordinghead substrate has many disadvantages. Most of all, the electricalresistance of the conductive glue is unreliable and hard to control. Theresistance can be very high and widely variable from part to part duringthe manufacturing process. In addition, it is difficult to control theflatness of the slider after mounted into the HGA, which is anothercritical parameter. In addition, to apply and cure the conductive gluein the HGA assembly requires many processes adding to the cost andduration of the manufacturing process.

The use of the stainless steel suspension as the electrical groundingconnection between the HGA and the electrical ground provided in thedisk drive also may provide disadvantages. The electrical resistance ofthe stainless steel suspension may vary significantly between suchcomponents. If the electrical resistance of the stainless steelsuspension is high, then there will be less reliable interfaces withother metal structures in the grounding path (e.g., the actuator).

In view of the above, there is a need for an improved method andapparatus for grounding a read/write head/slider that overcomes thedisadvantages of these known systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a drive arm in a hard disk drivedevice configured to read from and write to a magnetic hard disk asknown in the art.

FIG. 2 provides an illustration of a gold ball bonding structure as usedin embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is perspective view of part of a suspension showing the additionof a bonding pad and trace for grounding a read/write head/slideraccording to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a part of a suspension showing theaddition of a bonding pad and trace for grounding a read/writehead/slider according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a part of a suspension showing theaddition of a bonding pad and trace for grounding a read/writehead/slider according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a suspension showing the addition ofsegmented traces to connect a slider component to ground according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section of a suspension showing the electricalconnection between a trace segment and the stainless steel base of thesuspension according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section of a suspension showing the electricalconnection between a trace segment and the stainless steel base of thesuspension according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section of a suspension showing the electricalconnection between a trace segment and the stainless steel base as wellas the connection of the base to the grounding terminal of thepre-amplifier according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 2, a typical ball bonding structure is shown. Asdiscussed above, the slider 5 includes electrical components andconnections to facilitate the reading of data from and the writing ofdata to a storage medium, such as a rotating hard disk. To facilitateconnection of the electrical components of the read and write “heads” toother components in the disk drive, an external bonding pad 13 isprovided on the exterior of the slider. Likewise, the suspension alsoincludes electrical components to be coupled to the read and writecomponents of the slider. Typically, these electrical components includemetal traces incorporated into the suspension 11, or a separate flexcircuit that is attached to the suspension. In either case, a bondingpad 9 is typically provided on a surface of the suspension 11. Aconductive material, such as a gold ball, solder ball, etc. is depositedbetween the bonding pad 13 of the slider 5 and the bonding pad 9 of thesuspension 11. In this example, a gold ball 7 is used in a conventionalmanner. Likewise, the bonding pads 9 and 13 may be made of gold as well.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a more reliable andwell-controlled grounding of the substrate of the recording head 5 maybe achieved through an electrical connection between an additionalgrounding trace line on the suspension 11 and an additional groundinggold pad on the recording head/slider, which is electrically connectedto the substrate through internal conductive paths built into therecording head/slider at the wafer process level. The same method usedto connect the other gold bonding pads and suspension trace lines can beused to connect the grounding gold bonding pad and the suspensiongrounding trace line, which can be more reliable and well-controlledthan the use of a conductive glue. The suspension grounding trace linecan then be electrically connected to the electrical ground of the harddisk drive, again using the same or similar method used to connect theother trace lines to other electrical components in the disk drive,typically the pre-amplifier.

Referring to FIG. 3, a first embodiment of the present invention isshown. In this embodiment, a slider 201 is provided including read andwrite electrical components at a trailing end of the slider. Bondingpads 209 and 211 are provided on the slider for electrically connectingthe read and write electrical components to electrical components on thesuspension 221. In this embodiment, the electrical components of thesuspension include four conductive traces 205, 207 that are coupled tobonding pads 215, 217, respectively, for read/write signals. In atypical suspension as known in the art, the conductive traces 205, 207may be incorporated into the suspension 221, or created separately in aflex circuit or the like that is coupled to the suspension. Also, thetraces are electrically coupled to electrical components of the diskdrive (e.g., a preamplifier, not shown specifically in FIG. 3) thatcontrol the reading of data from and writing of data to the storagemedium.

According to this embodiment of the present invention, the slider 201 iscoupled to a tongue 203 of the suspension in a conventional manner(e.g., with an electrically insulative adhesive). A separate groundbonding pad 213 is provided on an outer surface of the slider 201. Forexample, the bonding pad may be coupled to electrical components withinthe slider 201 that are to be coupled to electrical ground. A separateground pad 220 is provided on the suspension along with a ground trace219 to provide a conductive path to an electrical ground component inthe disk drive apparatus (e.g., via the preamplifier). After the slider201 is attached to the tongue 203, the bonding pads 209, 211, 213 of theslider may be electrically coupled to the bonding pads 217, 215, 220 ofthe suspension by, for example, the gold ball bonding structure shown inFIG. 2. Other methods of electrical connection may be used includingultrasonic bonding and soldering.

An alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. Inthis embodiment, a separate ground pad 225 is provided on a side surfaceof the slider instead of the trailing side of the slider 201. As withthe embodiment of FIG. 3, the ground pad 225 is electrically coupledwithin the slider 201 to components that are to be electrically coupledto ground. Likewise, a separate ground pad 227 is provided on thesuspension 221 along with a conductive trace 223 to electrically couplebonding pad 225 to the electrical ground in the hard disk drive device.As with the embodiment of FIG. 3, gold ball bonding as shown in FIG. 2may be used to electrically couple bonding pads 209, 211, 225 of theslider 201 to bonding pads 217, 215, 227 of the suspension.

Numerous benefits can be gained from the embodiments of the inventionshown herein thus far. First of all, the grounding resistance can bemade to be low and consistent. Second, the slider flatness control willbe improved. In addition, the HGA assembly process can be greatlysimplified. For example, the conductive glue application process can beeliminated during manufacture. Glue setting processes can also besimplified, since the use of a conductive epoxy may not be needed.

The invention above is not limited to these examples. For example, theseparate ground pad may be placed at locations on the slider other thanthose shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. For example, the pad may be located at theleading edge of the slider. Also, conductors other than tracesincorporated into either side of the suspension may be used, including aseparate wire. In one embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, the separate pad iscoupled to the substrate of the slider so that it can be grounded. Theseparate pad may be coupled to other components in the slider as needed.Likewise, the separate pad may be coupled to other components in thedisk drive apparatus. When the read/write circuitry and the separate padare at the trailing edge of the slider (as in FIG. 3), the electricalconnection from the pad to the slider substrate can be electricallyisolated from the read/write circuitry in the slider using any of avariety of known isolation techniques during wafer fabricationprocesses. Furthermore, the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 are fordescriptive purposes and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Referring to FIG. 5, an additional embodiment of the present inventionis shown. As stated above, an electrical grounding connection may besought between the slider and ground outside of one through a conductiveadhesive that binds the slider to the HGA. In the embodiment of FIG. 5,the ground pad 251 on the suspension 252 is coupled to a grounding plane254 within the suspension body. In this embodiment, the suspension 252includes a metal plane 254 that may be connected to ground (e.g.,through the preamplifier). The connection between the ground pad 251 tothe grounding plane 254 may be achieved through any of a variety ofknown methods (e.g., a plated through-hole connection 253).

Referring to FIGS. 6–9, further embodiments of the present invention areshown related to the use of segmented traces to couple the slider toground, for example.

Referring to FIG. 6, a suspension 261 is shown with an integratedflexure 262 and an attached slider component 263. In this embodiment,the slider component 263 includes four pads 265 a–d as areconventionally provided for read and write signals for the recordinghead component 268 of the slider 263. These pads 265 a–d areelectrically coupled to other pads on the flexure 262, which in turn arecoupled to read/write traces 267 a–d that are coupled to a preamplifier269. In this embodiment, the suspension includes a stainless steel base271 and a dielectric layer 273 to assist in electrical separation of thetraces 267 a–d from the stainless steel base 271.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a segmented traceis provided to electrically couple the slider to ground. In thisembodiment, the slider includes a grounding pad 273 as described above.When the slider 263 is coupled to the flexure 262, the ground pad 273 ofthe slider can be electrically coupled to a corresponding ground pad 274on the flexure. A first segment 275 of a trace is electrically coupledto the ground pad 274. In addition, a second segment 276 of a trace iselectrically coupled to ground (e.g., ground terminal 275 ofpreamplifier 269). The first and second segments 275, 276 may beelectrically coupled together via the stainless steel base 271 of thesuspension 261 as described below.

Referring to FIG. 7, a first embodiment of a method for electricallycoupling a trace segment to the stainless steel base of a suspension isshown. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the traces for electrically couplingthe pre-amplifier to the slider are built through a subtractive processsuch as a trace suspension assembly (TSA). In a TSA, the suspensioncomprises at least three layers: a top conductor layer 283 (e.g., madeof copper), an intermediate dielectric layer 282, and a base layer 286(e.g., made of stainless steel). Then, material is taken away (e.g.,through etching) to form the trace conductors (e.g., in the form shownin FIG. 6). According to an embodiment of the present invention, anopening 280 is made through the copper layer 283 and the intermediatedielectric layer 282 and/or an edge 284 is made to expose the stainlesssteel base 286. Then a conductive material 281 (i.e., gold, solder,etc.) may be deposited into the opening 280 or at the edge 284 so as tocreate an electrical connection between the copper trace 283 and thestainless steel base. Referring back to FIG. 6, such an electricalconnection would be made at both the first and second trace segments soas to create an electrical connection between the slider (e.g., agrounding pad 273) and the ground terminal 275.

Referring to FIG. 8, a second embodiment for electrically coupling atrace segment to the stainless steel base is shown. In this embodiment,the traces are created through an additive process such as in a circuitintegrated suspension (CIS). In such an additive process, the dielectriclayer 291 is deposited onto a stainless steel base 292 and then theconductive trace 293 is deposited on top of the dielectric layer 291. Inthis embodiment, an opening 290 is made in the dielectric layer 291. Forexample, after the dielectric layer 291 is deposited onto the stainlesssteel base 292, the opening 290 may be formed into the dielectric layerthrough an etching process. Alternatively, the dielectric layer 291 maybe deposited in such a manner so as to create an opening to the base 292during the deposition process. After the opening is created, theconductive trace 293 is deposited into the opening so as to create anelectrical connection (e.g., between one of the trace segments 275, 276and the stainless steel base 271 in FIG. 6).

Referring to FIG. 9, a third embodiment for electrically coupling atrace segment to the stainless steel base is shown. In this embodiment,the copper traces are formed as part of a flex suspension assembly(FSA). Referring to FIG. 9, the FSA includes a copper ground plane 301,a dielectric layer 303, and metal traces including trace segment 305.Once formed, the FSA is then attached to the suspension 315, which canbe made entirely of stainless steel. The slider 307 can then be attachedto the flexure of the suspension and electrically coupled to the coppertrace segment via a separate ground pad 308 on the surface of the slider307. In this embodiment, an opening 310 is made in the dielectric layer303 so that trace segment 305 can make electrical contact with thecopper ground plane 301. As with the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, theelectrical connection may be made by providing a separate, conductivematerial (e.g., a gold ball or solder ball) in the opening coupling thetrace segment to the ground plane. Likewise, with the embodiment of FIG.8, the copper trace segment 305 may be formed across the opening toconnect to the copper ground plane. Though a separate trace segment maybe provided to couple the ground terminal 316 of the pre-amplifier 317to the stainless steel base 315, in this embodiment, copper ground plane301 is coupled directly to the ground terminal 316.

It is noted that though only one or two trace segments are provided inthe embodiments above, the present invention is not so limited. Multipletrace segments may be used between the slider and ground. Also, thoughthe use of trace segments has been shown to connect the slider to theground terminal of the pre-amplifier, such trace segments may be used toelectrically connect other components together. For example, tracesegments may be used to connect the slider to other grounding componentsin the disk drive. Also, trace segments may be used to connect anelectrical circuit within the slider to other components in the diskdrive.

Although several embodiments are specifically illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of thepresent invention are covered by the above teachings and within thepurview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit andintended scope of the invention.

1. A suspension comprising: a base; a dielectric layer disposed on saidbase; a number of metal traces coupled to said dielectric layer to becoupled to read/write circuitry on a slider component coupled to saidsuspension; and a separate trace segment to be electrically coupled tosaid slider component, said seperate trace segment being coupled throughan opening in said dielectric layer to said base.
 2. The suspension ofclaim 1 wherein said base is made of stainless steel.
 3. The suspensionof claim 2 further comprising: a second trace segment electricallycoupled to said base.
 4. The suspension of claim 3 wherein said secondtrace is to be coupled to an electrical component in a disk drive. 5.The suspension of claim 4 further comprising: a slider includingread/write circuitry electrically coupled to said number of traces andtrace segments on said suspension.
 6. The suspension of claim 3 whereinsaid second trace is to be coupled to a ground terminal of apre-amplifier.
 7. The suspension of claim 6 further comprising: a sliderincluding read/write circuitry electrically coupled to said number oftraces and trace segments on said suspension.
 8. The suspension of claim1 wherein said separate trace segment is coupled over an edge of saiddielectric layer to said base.
 9. The suspension of claim 8 wherein saidbase is made of stainless steel.
 10. The suspension of claim 9 furthercomprising: a second trace segment electrically coupled to said base.11. The suspension of claim 10 wherein said second trace is to becoupled to a ground terminal of a preamplifier.
 12. A suspensioncomprising: a flex suspension assembly including a ground plane; adielectric layer; a number of metal traces to be coupled to read/writecircuitry in a slider component; and a separate trace segment to beelectrically coupled to said slider component, said seperate tracesegment is to be electrically coupled to said ground plane through anopening in said dielectric layer.
 13. The suspension of claim 12 whereinsaid separate trace segment is to be electrically coupled to a groundpad on said slider component.
 14. The suspension of claim 13 furthercomprising: a base coupled to said flex suspension assembly.
 15. Thesuspension of claim 14 wherein said ground plane is to be coupled to aground terminal on a pre-amplifier component in a disk drive.
 16. Thesuspension of claim 14 further comprising: a slider a slider includingread/write circuitry electrically coupled to said number of traces andsaid separate segments on said flex suspension assembly.
 17. A diskdrive comprising: a head suspension assembly including a sliderincluding read/write circuitry; a number of traces coupled to pads onsaid slider coupled to said read/write circuitry; a separate tracesegment coupled to said slider a dielectric layer; and a metal base,such that said separate trace segment is electrically coupled to saidmetal base.
 18. The disk drive of claim 17 further comprising: apre-amplifier including a ground terminal electrically coupled to themetal base of said head suspension assembly.
 19. The disk drive of claim18 wherein said head suspension assembly further comprises: a secondtrace segment coupled between the ground terminal of said pre-amplifierand the metal base of said head suspension assembly.
 20. The disk driveof claim 17 wherein said head suspension assembly further includes aground plane between said metal base and said dielectric layer whereinsaid ground plane is electrically coupled to the ground terminal on saidpre-amplifier.